A new foot over bridge has been opened for public use near Bengaluru’s Whitefield Railway Station, connecting the railway station to the BMTC bus stand and the upcoming Namma Metro Station that is currently under construction. The public reception to this decision has been positive, employees are now relieved that difficulties in their commute have been alleviated to an extent. In addition to establishing easy connectivity to the BMTC bus stand, the FOB will permit direct access to the Metro stations as well.
The work on the foot over bridge (FOB) had been planned long before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and the construction was completed back in 2021, as per Abhishek R, a rail activist. Abhishek says that his personal goal is to increase and encourage the use of public transport in the city, and this FOB at Whitefield is a step towards that.
According to Abhishek, the Whitefield Railway station was not easily accessible from the BMTC bus stand earlier and thus, hindered the commute for employees in the IT Sector. “Most of the IT companies are located towards Whitefield and Kadugodi so the majority of the workers who usually come from Baiyappanahalli and KR Puram can get down at the Whitefield station, make use of the bridge connectivity and board BMTC buses to their respective companies that are usually located within a 2-kilometre radius.”
“I predominantly had to rely on Uber-Ola rides to get to the city and it has been a large financial expense, but now it’s easy for me to board a bus and get anywhere,” Ishita, a student, tells TNM. “The bus stand, railway station, and metro all being in such close proximity finally establishes connectivity between Whitefield and the rest of the city,” she adds.
Image Courtesy: Rida Fathima
With the foot over bridge work now being complete, there is lingering anticipation over the opening up of the Whitefield metro station. The metro station is expected to open by September 2022, according to the BMRCL. One of the major concerns regarding this is the extension of the foot over bridge to the metro station on the other side of the road. “I have used it many times and it’s interchangeable transportation and more convenient, but I hope the FOB extends to the metro station on the other side of the road as well, that is necessary,” says Srinath, a software engineer in Whitefield.